Indigenous Knowledge in Sustainable Livelihoods

by Tafadzwa Fortune Ndiyamba

For the love of the modern world or the so called civilisation, indigenous resources and ways of doing things were discarded. New ways of living and of doing things were adopted with dire consequences. The excitement has faded and now societies are desperate to go back to basics. They realised that the exotic trees are not good for them and the environment, neither is the genetically modified foods. The below video filmed at a SEEDS IZIMBEWU FESTIVAL in Howick brings out a clear picture of the importance of traditional/indigenous knowledge in sustainable livelihoods.

Indigenous knowledge is the local knowledge that is unique to a culture or society. Other names for it include: ‘local knowledge’, ‘folk knowledge’, ‘people’s knowledge’, ‘traditional wisdom’ or ‘traditional science’. This knowledge is passed from generation to generation, usually by word of mouth and cultural rituals, and has been the basis for agriculture, food preparation, health care, education, conservation and the wide range of other activities that sustain societies in many parts of the world.
Indigenous people have a broad knowledge of how to live sustainably. However, formal education systems have disrupted the practical everyday life aspects of indigenous knowledge and ways of learning, replacing them with abstract knowledge and academic ways of learning. Today, there is a grave risk that much indigenous knowledge is being lost and, along with it, valuable knowledge about ways of living sustainably.